“Half-brother,” Alec corrected. “But yes. We have yet to check all of the new mates from your world, but so far, you all share the same father. We haven’t told the others yet. We have a meeting later this morning, but seeing as you won’t be present for it, I figured we should tell you now.”
“Because we’ll be at the house you have for us?” I asked, needing to know we were in agreement on that. Not that I feared they would send me home. Okay, I was a little afraid of that happening, but I also trusted these people. They were my rulers now, too, and if my father had been from here, maybe my trauma was losing him? He wouldn’t have survived without his magic, so maybe someone took it from him and I witnessed him die?
“Exactly,” Grovar grunted. “We should escort you there as soon as possible. You both need rest, and so do we before the meeting.”
Trise went to stand and gave us a warm smile. “When the meeting is over, we’ll come see you and tell you the rest of our findings. Grovar is right, you need rest.”
“And you think it’s safe to remove Derek from the ground?” Nolen asked, his worry for me was both endearing and grounding. With him by my side I knew I would make it. I might never be fully healed, but I trusted he would love me even with my broken pieces. He’d proven how much he cared several times already.
“He is. But he needs to touch you at all times. And I mean that. I don’t care if you need to pee. No separating until after you’ve slept for afew hours. You can test it then if you can separate for a few minutes, but not before. You hear me?” Henriette stood with both hands on her hips, looking at us with a firm expression. We both nodded, and together, hand in hand, we rose from the grass.
“Splendid. Let’s go,” Trise said, leading us to the house.
Chapter Twelve
Nolen
The house was located right next to the castle, along with ten similar houses. I felt at ease as we walked down the road. Knowing we were close to the rulers somehow helped soothe the fear of them leaving. I had to trust that I could help Derek if he fell into the painful darkness again, but knowing I had help close by was really reassuring.
The rulers left after letting us inside the house, locking it behind them. Derek was too tired, even for a short tour, so I gathered him into my arms and carried him to the bedroom. He snuggled my chest and was fast asleep almost immediately. There wasn’t much to show him anyway, considering it was a small house, and I figured the bedroom would be where we would spend most of our time anyway, if things went how I hoped they would. He wouldn’t heal properly before we’d mated, I knew that much was true.
I laid him down and figured his clothes would be too uncomfortable to sleep in, so I gently removed his pants, shoes and socks, leaving him inhis navy boxers and my t-shirt. He looked so perfect. Like an angel as he slept soundly next to me. I quickly stripped out of everything except my underwear, making sure to touch him at all times, and then moved closer to him.
Even in his sleep he sought me out, needing the closeness. I pulled him in so he rested his head in the crook of my arm, securing him to my side. I took one last glance at the top of my mate’s blonde hair, then closed my eyes, smiling as I let sleep take over.
“You can cook?” Derek asked, his tone excited as he watched me whip up the pancake batter. He sat on the counter as I cooked, knowing we had to stay near each other these next few days, but so far, he wasn’t in pain without touch.
“I love to cook,” I replied, giving him an easy smile. I wouldn’t call making pancakes cooking, but I didn’t say that. Maybe it seemed harder for people that never spent time in a kitchen; but pancakes were so easy, I couldn’t compare it to real cooking.
“Really? Like as a hobby?”
“Yeah, I’ve always found it relaxing. I love experimenting with flavors and creating something new and exciting,” I supplied.
“I love that. I never learned to cook, or do anything in a kitchen.”
“Not even as you grew up?”
He shook his head. “My nannies always cooked, or babysitters, whatever they were called.”
It got more obvious the more I learned just how little his mother had been around him.
“Was it like that your whole childhood?” I dared ask.
He shrugged. “I don’t really remember much. I’ve lost a lot of my memories from back then. My mom told me something traumatic happened, but that she wasn’t allowed to tell me since the trauma had made my brain forget it, and she felt it wouldn’t help me to remember. I can’t really blame her for protecting me from it. Besides, my nightmares are bad enough.”
“Nightmares?” He hadn’t seemed to have any when he slept in my arms. Either I was just that good at helping him relax, or he’d been too tired to dream.
“I get nightmares pretty much every night. Ever since I was a child.”
“Anything I can do to help you if I’m awake when they happen?” I knew some people said you shouldn’t wake someone who’s having a nightmare, but I had no clue if that was true or not.
“Just hold me,” he answered with a blush, averting his gaze and focusing on the décor instead.
“It would be my pleasure.” I returned my focus on the pancakes, adding some butter to the pan and waited for it to melt. I liked making them on a lower heat, yes it took longer to cook them, but they tasted much better this way.
“Is it okay if I take a shower?” he asked, likely afraid of being too far from me.
“I think it should be safe, but can you leave the door open? I like knowing I can hear you if you need me.”
